Union vote, incentives bring battery plant to Schenectady

General Electric Co. has committed to build a $100 million battery plant on the company's Schenectady campus following union approval of contract amendments and a package of incentives from the Schenectady Metroplex Development Authority.

Late Tuesday, workers with IUE-CWA Local 301 easily approved an amendment to a labor contract.

The measure passed 785-363, according to the union’s Web site. Union members at GE Global Research Center in Niskayuna and GE’s Schenectady campus voted on an amendment to a four-year national contract that was ratified in 2007.

The incentives announced today from Metroplex include a $5 million grant and a payment in lieu of taxes agreement that sets the value of the plant to the city at $65 million for 10 years.

The plant would open in 2011 and create 350 jobs. Susan Savage, chairwoman of the Schenectady County Legislature, praised the union for supporting the new business.

“This project has the potential to be one of the largest investments in the history of Schenectady County,” Savage said.

New York state committed $15 million to the project when plans for the facility were first announced in May. GE also submitted an application for federal stimulus money to help offset the plant’s costs. The company was not among the 48 recipients named Wednesday by the White House in a round of $2.4 billion for advanced battery technology.

GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt said the plant would be built with or without stimulus funds. He made the comment when news of the battery center was announced earlier this year at the GE Global Research Center in Niskayuna.

GE already has more than $150 million invested in advanced battery technologies. The “advanced” battery business is expected to generate $1 billion over the next decade, Immelt said.

GE’s Schenectady plant produces turbines and is also headquarters for GE’s renewable energy business. The battery center would be located in GE’s Building 66 in downtown Schenectady. The turbine operations currently handled there would move to Building 273.

The batteries made at the factory will be capable of producing 900 megawatt-hours of energy a year, or the equivalent of the battery power required for 45,000 plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

GE (NYSE: GE) reviewed “scores of sites” in the Capital Region before deciding on the Schenectady campus, said Ray Gillen, chairman of the Schenectady Metroplex Development Authority.

GE’s battery business falls under GE Transportation and will serve the rail, marine, telecommunications and energy sectors, including new “smart grid” technology. GE has research and/or product divisions in all of those markets. The first product from the battery facility will be GE’s hybrid locomotive, which will be commercialized next year. Eventually, Immelt said, GE plans to develop batteries for cars and commercial vehicles.